LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The GSMA today announced that Japanese mobile operators KDDI
Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, INC. and SoftBank Corp. have launched Rich
Communications Services (RCS) based on the GSMA’s specifications. The
service, which is called ‘+ message’, is an upgrade to SMS and is
available today to customers on smartphones and tablets, enabling them
to enjoy enhanced messaging features such as chat, group chat, video,
gifs, file and location sharing, amongst others. All three operators
plan to transition to the GSMA’s Universal Profile specification in the
future.

“This is positive news for Japanese mobile subscribers who will be able
to upgrade to enhanced messaging services as well as for the continued
global adoption of RCS around the world,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief
Technology Officer, GSMA. “RCS is poised for explosive growth this year
with more and more operators launching the service, with many
interconnecting their networks and numerous brands trialling RCS
Business Messaging and we look forward to seeing this continuing over
the coming months.”

All three operators are planning to launch RCS Business Messaging in the
future. RCS Business Messaging enables consumers to engage directly with
multiple brands from a single messaging platform, allowing them to make
restaurant reservations, book train tickets or retail purchases without
having to juggle numerous apps. Several global brands are already
trialling it to improve the customer experience and enable consumers to
communicate with brands in a more engaging and direct manner. GSMA
Intelligence estimates that the RCS Business Messaging market will be
worth over $74 billion by 2021.

Driving Adoption of RCS

Adoption of RCS is accelerating quickly around the world, with over 50
network launches as well as network interconnections. Earlier this year,
the GSMA announced that Deutsche Telekom, Telenor Group, Telia Company
and Vodafone Group had interconnected their networks in Europe, while
América Móvil, Rogers Communications and Sprint have interconnected
across the Americas. GSMA Intelligence estimates that there are
currently 165 million active monthly RCS users, which is expected to
double to 350 million by Q4 2018.

The GSMA is working to further spur the growth of RCS through
initiatives such as the GSMA RCS Business Messaging Labs, which bring
operators, marketing companies, messaging aggregators and brands
together to work together on key topics such as customer experience,
specifications, monetisation, privacy, security and trust and
interconnection. For further information please go to: www.gsma.com/futurenetworks.

The GSMA Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging

The GSMA’s Universal Profile (UP) is backed by over 70 leading
operators, vendors and OS providers worldwide and provides an open,
consistent and global messaging service across networks and devices. It
simplifies interoperability and enables OEMs and OS providers to achieve
scale and give consumers a richer and more consistent messaging
experience regardless of device or network. UP 2.0 enables
Application-to-Person RCS Business messaging and RCS-capable chatbots,
as well as additional messaging expressiveness features. For more
information about the RCS Universal Profile, please go to: www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/ip-services/universal-profile/.

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About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting
nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile
ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies,
equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in
adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading
events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai,
Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com.
Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.